The NCAA Tournament is drawing to a close for men's basketball. Here are American-Statesman staff March Madness picks for the Final Four predictions.

The Auburn Tigers and Florida Gators meet in an all-SEC clash to kick off the Final Four on Saturday. Then, the Duke Blue Devils square off with the Houston Cougars in the nightcap in San Antonio. Each battle between No. 1 seeds could produce games that are talked about for decades.

By bypassing the Blue Devils for the title, you can differentiate your entry. Duke’s prowess has made it the most popular title pick in ESPN’s bracket contest ( 25 percent of entries as of Tuesday) as well as CBS’s. Not going with Duke to win is a smart pool strategy Mock outlines here — while still collecting points by riding Duke to the finals.

And in the late game, No. 1 USC is as an underdog against No. 2 UConn, led by star guard Paige Bueckers. The Trojans, despite losing star JuJu Watkins to a season-ending injury earlier in the tournament, managed to survive their Sweet 16 matchup against Kansas State. But UConn will provide a much stiffer test.

Florida and Duke  have already secured a spot in San Antonio for the 2025 Final Four. On Sunday, the Gators and Blue Devils will find out their semifinal opponents as champions emerge from the Midwest and South regions in Elite Eight action.

After narrowly defeating his dog back in 2018, News Tribune college hockey reporter Matt Wellens will now attempt to pick a better NCAA hockey bracket than his 6-year-old son.

The men’s Final Four is complete after Houston and Auburn both won Sunday in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.